Have your say have your vote

After spending most of the bank holiday at home I started to lose count of how many times my doorbell rang with eager political campaigners awaiting on my doorstep trying to win my vote! It’s not often (actually it’s never happened) that I have used this little corner of the web to view my political opinion (don’t worry I’m not about to). What I did want to to address was the importance and reasons for casting your vote and why that vote is important for the future of our country. For me these can be summed up into three points: Democracy, Women’s right to vote and change for the good.

Democracy – we live in a society where us the people are given the right/opportunity to vote for polices that we see fit and choose who we wish to execute those policies. Whilst our chosen party may not always succeed overall in running the country as a whole, your vote may allow for a certain party to operate in your borough. So if things like kids school places, or waiting times for doctors appointments in your area are being focused on by your chosen party then they need your vote!

Women’s right to vote – I’m all about girl power which did not begin with the Spice girls, it began with the suffragettes. You probably learnt about the suffragette in school, but if you are in your mid 30’s like me that was probably quite a while ago. Here is a refresher; The Suffragettes were members of women’s organisation who fought for the right for women to vote in the early 19th and 20th centuries. Yes ladies, without this organisation we may still not have had the vote. Fact: it was only in 1918 that women over the age of 30 (subject to certain property conditions) were allowed to vote. The age for when women were allowed to vote got reduced to 21 in 1928.

Change for good – We as a country are far from perfect, and I personally could reel off a list of things that I think should be changed for the good. However with no personal invitation or seat into the House of Commons, my voice will go totally unheard of. So instead of campaigning for parliament (which we all know is not really going to happen) I lay my trust in a political party that will spend the next four-five years executing their policies and hopefully make our country a better place to live in. If you don’t vote you have no right to complain!

With all said above i’m still slightly confused as to who I am going to vote for, especially as I live in an area where two parties dominate and one vote could swing the ruling party. If you like me need help on deciding on your vote, check out this political party matrix here. Voting only takes a few minutes of your time and is open to anyone who is over the age of 16 and is registered to vote.